24 ❙ WATT POULTRY USA
PROCESSING MANAGEMENT
Poultry processing condemnations:
A guide to identification and causes
A guide to the identification and causes of condemnations by USDA
at the poultry processing plant BY SCOTT RUSSELL
processing, poultry carcasses are
❯❯ During
often inspected for signs of disease or fecal
contamination. In some cases, the presence
of a disease or fecal contamination may
result in a condemnation. When a carcass
is condemned by USDA-FSIS, the carcass
must be placed into a yellow trash receptacle and the meat must be denatured using
a colored dye (usually red) so that humans
will never consume the meat. The reasons
for carcass condemnations vary greatly and
differ from country to country.
Diseases leading to
condemnation
There are several diseases that can
lead an inspector to condemn a carcass,
including:
✔Septicemia/toxemia infectious
✔Neoplastic or degenerative processes
that are not considered septicemia/
toxemia: Airsacculitis, inflammatory
process, synovitis and tenosynovitis,
liver tumors, keratoacanthomas, ascites, cadavers (red birds), bruises and
scratches.
Septox
Septicemia refers to the presence of
bacteria in the bloodstream of a chicken.
The infection has then resulted in a disease
state that causes systemic changes within
the bird. These changes are generally visualized by viewing the whole carcass as
opposed to specific disease in certain areas.
When chickens become septicemic, their
organs begin to malfunction and the cells
within the body deteriorate. Occasionally,
septicemia will cause the bird to die prior
to processing. However, in other cases, the
immune system of the bird will overcome
the disease and the bird is able to recover.
It is important to note the bird is only septic for a brief period and then recovers or
dies. If the bird has septicemia when it is
processed, then the following may be visualized: petechial (pinpoint) hemorrhages
on the heart, liver, kidneys, muscles and
membranes; the liver, spleen and kidneys
are often swollen and hyperemic; and carcasses show signs of generalized vascular
degeneration with multiple petechial to
ecchymotic hemorrhages.
Very few birds with septicemia survive
catching and transportation to make to the
processing plant alive. If the bird prior to
catching has had a septicemia event, often
the muscles have wasted away and have
broken down because of changes in muscle
metabolism. Some of these birds may eventually be culled in the field. However, even
with nonspecific generalized or multiple localized conditions. The septicemia/toxemia
category was the catchall for carcasses the
plant did not find economically feasible
to process, such as those with lesions of
airsacculitis and inflammatory process.
septicemia/toxemia chickens may not be a
total loss because any unaffected portions
of the carcass may be salvaged.
Airsacculitis
In chicken
houses that are
poorly ventilated and contain high levels
Figure 1. The interior of a of ammonia,
carcass with an airsacculi- the air sacs
tis infection and exudate
of the birds
Photo courtesy Ewing and may become
Biligili
inflamed. The
cilia in the respiratory system become paralyzed by ammonia and are unable to clear contaminants
from the lungs. When this condition occurs,
opportunistic viral or mycoplasmic infections may
For a list of references for this article, please go to
occur. This can lead to a
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secondary infection with
E. coli, commonly found
though the infection has subsided, these
in high numbers in the poultry growout
carcasses are not aesthetically desirable and
environment. The E. coli generally do not
should be condemned. Historically, septicause infection, but become opportunistic
cemia and toxemia were the terms used by
and infect the air sacs. This leads to the
inspection staff to report not only carcasses
formation of a fibrinous lesion. These leaffected with septicemia, but also those
sions can develop within 24 hours. Because
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www.WATTAgNet.com ❙ June 2012

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